brae

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*h₃bʰrúHs“eyebrow”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*brēwō“eyebrow”
3. Old Norse · derived frombrá“eyebrow; eyelash”
4. Middle English · inherited frombro
5. English todaybrae

From Middle English bro, bra (“bank of a stream; raised edge of a ditch or pit”), from Old Norse brá (“eyebrow; eyelash”) (probably in the sense of the brow of a hill), from Proto-Germanic *brēwō (“eyebrow”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃bʰrúHs (“eyebrow”). The English word is cognate with Old English brǣw, brēaw (“eyelid”), Old High German brāwa (Middle High German brā, modern German Braue (“eyebrow”)), Old Saxon brāwa, brāha (“eyebrow; eyelash”); and is a doublet of bree (“(Scotland) brow; forehead; (obsolete or dialectal, Scotland) eyebrow; eyelid”) and brow.

Words from the same roots